Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to cost analysis and more particularly to systems, methods and computer program products for analyzing and determining the cost of ownership of high value items such as vehicles.
Related Art
Consumers are periodically faced with the prospect of making decisions with respect to high-value items such as vehicles, and it is often the case that the consumers are not well equipped to make these decisions. For example, when considering whether to purchase a vehicle, a consumer may be well aware of the list price of the vehicle, but it may be much less clear what the consumer's overall cost of owning the vehicle will be. This overall cost of ownership includes items such as fuel costs, insurance costs, financing costs, repair costs, and so on. Consumers may therefore have to rely on their intuition or “hunches” in making decisions about vehicle ownership.
Consumers may be able to obtain some information on the overall cost of ownership of a vehicle from various sources. For instance, it is not uncommon for vehicle-related publications to publish cost of ownership information when reviewing vehicles. Commonly, these publications will indicate typical costs for a set period of time, such as five years, beginning with the initial purchase of the vehicle. While this information is beneficial to the consumer, it is typically presented as a one-size-fits-all solution to the consumers' needs. In other words, the cost of vehicle ownership information is usually a static cost assessment for a typical vehicle, and is not differentiated for particular vehicles or for particular users.
It would therefore be desirable to provide tools that enable consumers (as well as dealers and others in the industry) to more accurately determine the cost of ownership of the specific vehicles in which the consumers are interested with respect to the information applicable to the particular consumers to whom the information is presented.